Thompson has 20 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, Rockets beat Clippers 115-113

HOUSTON (AP) — Amen Thompson’s three-point play with 17.2 seconds left helped the Houston Rockets to a 115-113 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night.

Thompson tipped in Alperen Sengun’s miss to break a 110-110 tie, was fouled by Kris Dunn and hit the and-1 free throw. The putback came off Houston's third offensive rebound of the possession and 21st of the night.

Thompson made 8 of 12 from the field and finished with 20 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.

The Rockets (16-6) outrebounded the Clippers 51-28 and avoided losing back-to-back games for the first time since October 24.

Los Angeles had two possessions with a chance to tie the game, but Kawhi Leonard was called for an offensive foul, and Nicolas Batum committed a violation on an inbounds pass.

Sengun led the Rockets with 22 points and 15 rebounds, five assists and four steals, while Jabari Smith Jr added 18 points.

Kevin Durant scored 13 of his 16 points in the third quarter. He started the game 1 of 7 from the field but knocked down his next four shots.

Ivica Zubac matched a season-high with 33 points for the Clippers. He shot 13 of 14 and added seven rebounds.

Leonard scored 24 points in a season-high 41 minutes, and James Harden chipped in 22 points against the team he starred with for over eight seasons.

The loss is the Clippers (6-19) third in a row and eighth in nine games.

Rockets: At Denver on Monday

Clippers: Host Memphis on Monday

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, center, shoots the ball betwen LA Clippers center Ivica Zubac, left, and guard James Harden, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) attempts to drive around LA Clippers forward Nicolas Batum (33) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Rockets center Steven Adams, left, reaches in as LA Clippers center Ivica Zubac, right, looks to drive around him during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson, right, goes up to dunk in front of LA Clippers guard James Harden, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Indiana’s Republican-led Senate has decisively rejected a redrawn congressional map that would have favored their party, defying months of pressure from President Donald Trump and delivering a stark setback to the White House ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

The vote on Thursday was overwhelmingly against the proposed redistricting, with more Republicans opposing than supporting the measure, signaling the limits of Trump’s influence even in one of the country’s most conservative states.

Trump has been urging Republicans nationwide to redraw their congressional maps in an unusual campaign to help the party maintain its thin majority in the House of Representatives. Although Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina went along, Indiana did not — despite cajoling and insults from the president and the possibility of primary challenges.

The latest:

Trump successfully harnessed voter anxiety over the economy, immigration and crime last year to retake the White House — and lift plenty of other Republicans into office with him. But as the party tries to keep its grip on complete control in Washington, that strategy may be harder to replicate.

Republicans have lost a series of elections over the past month, some resoundingly. The latest setbacks came this week when a Democrat won the Miami mayor’s race for the first time in three decades. Democrats also won a special election in a historically Republican district in Georgia.

There are also signs that Trump’s influence over his party has its limits, and he failed Thursday to persuade Indiana state senators to approve a new congressional map that could have helped Republicans pick up two more seats.

Perhaps most concerning for Republicans, Trump is losing ground on the very issues that powered his comeback victory last year, potentially undermining his utility as a surrogate for the party’s candidates in the midterm elections. Only 31% of U.S. adults now approve of how he’s handling the economy, down from 40% in March, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Trump was sued on Friday by preservationists seeking an architecture review and congressional approval over his White House ballroom project.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is asking a federal court to stop Trump’s White House ballroom project until it goes through comprehensive design reviews and public comments and wins approval from Congress.

The National Trust argues that Trump, by fast-tracking the project, has committed multiple violations of the Administrative Procedures Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, while also exceeding his constitutional authority by not seeking congressional approval for a project of this scale.

Trump, a Republican, already has bypassed the federal government’s usual building practices and historical reviews when he razed the East Wing of the White House. He has more recently fired the initial architects for a ballroom that itself would be nearly twice the size of the White House before East Wing’s demolition.

House Democrats released a selection of photos from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, including some of Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the former Prince Andrew.

The 19 photos released by Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee were a small part of more than 95,000 they received from the estate of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges.

The photos released Friday were separate from the case files that the Department of Justice is now compelled to release.

The photos were released without captions or context and included a black-and-white image of Trump alongside six women whose faces were blacked out. The committee did not say why their faces were blacked out.

Trump has signed an executive order aimed at blocking states from crafting their own regulations for artificial intelligence, saying the burgeoning industry is at risk of being stifled by a patchwork of onerous rules while in a battle with Chinese competitors for supremacy.

Members of Congress from both parties, as well as civil liberties and consumer rights groups, have pushed for more regulations on AI, saying there is not enough oversight for the powerful technology.

But Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that “there’s only going to be one winner” as nations race to dominate artificial intelligence, and China’s central government gives its companies a single place to go for government approvals.

A bipartisan group in Congress is urging the Education Department to add nursing to a list of college programs that are considered “professional,” adding to public outcry after nurses were omitted from a new agency definition.

The Trump administration’s list of professional programs includes medicine, law and theology but leaves out nursing and some other fields that industry groups had asked to be included. The “professional” label would allow students to borrow larger amounts of federal loans to pursue graduate degrees in those fields.

The president will sign a bill awarding Congressional Gold Medals to members of the U.S. men’s ice hockey team who defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union team during the Cold War.

The game held in Lake Placid, New York, is widely regarded as one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports.

President Donald Trump reacts to guests in the Grand Foyer of the White House during the Congressional Ball, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania greet guests in the Grand Foyer of the White House during the Congressional Ball, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)